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Bill would overhaul road law

Public would have more input on Ga. 316 plans

Posted: Friday, February 25, 2005

By Brian BasingerMorris News Service

ATLANTA - A public outcry for more information about a proposal that could turn Georgia Highway 316 into a toll road led several Senate Republicans to introduce legislation Thursday that would overhaul an existing law that governs public-private road contracts.

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The new bill would tweak the state's current statute by requiring private developers who compete for state transportation projects to provide the public with more information about the potential construction plans.

The legislation, Senate Bill 270, also would extend the window of opportunity for developers who want to submit competing bids on public-private projects, while also giving the governor more involvement in the process.

Supporters of the legislation said they hope to head off situations where the public feels left in the dark on details of construction bids submitted to the state by the private-sector.

Hundreds of residents from Northeast Georgia contacted the state Department of Transportation in December and January, urging officials not to negotiate with a consortium of road developers known as the Parkway Group, which wants to turn Ga. 316 into an interstate-style road.

The Parkway Group had indicated it would overhaul the congested road linking Athens to metro Atlanta with private money and then recoup its investment, possibly by turning Ga. 316 into a tollway with a one-way fare as high as $4.68.

State Sen. Brian Kemp of Athens, one of the sponsors of S.B. 270, said he thinks many people wouldn't have advocated against negotiations between the state and the developers if more details from the Parkway Group's bid had been available up front.

"I think a lot of it was just because people didn't fully understand what the proposal was and what would happen," Kemp said.

The state's current law shields proposals submitted by developers from being made public until after formal negotiations begin between the developer and the state. Currently, it is not known under the Parkway Group's bid where the developers might want to place on-ramps, off-ramps, access roads or potential toll booths.

The new legislation would require developers to provide the state with an executive summary of the proposed bid, which would become available for review by the public immediately after the DOT receives it. The summary would include a design plan of the project.

Private companies still would be allowed to exempt certain proprietary information from the summary so that other companies wouldn't be able to steal "trade secrets."

DOT officials mostly were supportive of the legislation.

"It takes that cloak of secrecy away," said DOT Deputy Commissioner Larry Dent, who worked closely with lawmakers to develop parts of the bill. "There's no more secrets."

David Doss, chairman of the DOT board, said he is happy to see the bill also would allow the state to begin soliciting public-private bids on its own. The current law only allows the state to receive unsolicited proposals.

"Currently we have to rely on the business community to bring us a proposal and it may not be the most urgent one or the one we would do next," Doss said.

Gov. Sonny Perdue's fingerprints are also on the bill, which would give the governor's office a major say in whether future public-private bids can move forward for consideration by the DOT board.

The bill would create an "Evaluation Committee," which would serve as a gateway to review each new public-private proposal and make recommendations about whether DOT officials should begin formal negotiations.

The five-member committee would include two designees made by the governor, as well as the directors of both the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority and the State Road and Tollway Authority (both governor-appointed positions) and the state transportation commissioner (who is picked by the DOT board).

The governor's staff said Thursday that Perdue thinks he should be involved from the beginning in projects that could have a major impact on the state's transportation infrastructure.

DOT officials said they had no immediate concerns or worries about the new authority granted to the governor under the bill.